Monday, August 7, 2017

The Springfield School District announced on Monday that the team representing the Springfield School Board, the River Valley Technical Center board, and the Springfield Support Staff Association in contract negotiations has rejected the report that resulted from mediations.

2017-08-08 / Front Page
School district, support staff wrangle with contract
By KELSEY CHRISTENSEN
kchristensen@eagletimes.com
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Springfield School District (SSD) announced on Monday that the team representing the Springfield School Board, the River Valley Technical Center (RVTC) board, and the Springfield Support Staff Association (SSSA) in contract negotiations has rejected the report that resulted from mediations.
“We just couldn’t come together,” said Steve Hier, business manager for the Springfield School District. “The issues were salaries and benefits, and the gap was too big for us to find a common ground.”
The current contract with the support staff expired on June 30. The boards and the SSSA, which represents school district support staff such as clerks, paraeducators, and custodians, have been negotiating for a successor agreement since late March, holding an unsuccessful mediation session on May 10. Negotiation teams from the Springfield School Board, RVTC School District, and the SSSA met on Aug. 1 to resume negotiations after receiving a report from the fact finder.
The fact finder is a continuation of the mediation process, which is comprised of a report of recommendations prepared by neutral representatives after all parties have submitted a rationale of their positions on the proposed contract. The report was deemed counter to the interests of both boards, according to a school district press release.
According to the fact finder report, the school board proposed that the parties enter into a two-year agreement to succeed the expired agreement, during which each year wages within each wage-step would increase by 30 cents per hour.
The board bolstered its proposal with discussion of economic stagnancy in Vermont, pointing to a lost of 2,300 jobs per year in the state, a gross domestic product (GDP) increase of only .8 percent over the previous year, and pressure on school districts to level-fund their school budgets. Meanwhile, the board stated, there’s been only a 1.3 percent increase in cost of living per person in the state.
The SSSA, for its part, proposed a 2.9 percent annual increase, with a wage-step increase every two years. The SSSA argues that employees have understood that they would be paid a higher wage if they stayed in their position, and contended that, while they had agreed to forego wage increases during the economic recession, the recession is now in the past.
The fact finder recommended that the parties enter into a two-year agreement, remove the first wage-step, and add an eighth wage-step which would be 2.5 percent more than the current seventh wage-step.
With regard to health insurance, the school board proposed maintaining the status quo until Jan. 1, in which the district pays a flat rate into the premiums of four VEHI (Vermont Employee Health Insurance) plans chosen by the employee: a single person plan for approximately $5,000 annually, a two-person plan for approximately $10,000, a parent and child(ren) plan for approximately $8,000, and a family plan for approximately $14,000. After the new year, however, the board proposed the establishment of Health Savings Accounts (HSA) in which the district would contribute $500 for single coverage and $1,000 for other coverages within the VEHI Gold CDHP plan, after which the district would match employee contributions at a rate of $1.67 per each dollar of district contribution.
The SSA proposed that the board pay 90 percent of the VEHI Gold CDHP plan and 100 percent of the deductible and out of pocket costs of the new plan. However, at the time of the negotiations, in May, the parties were not considering Gov. Phil Scott’s then-forthcoming changes to the negotiation of school health care contracts, which dictates that all school staff have the same health care plan.
“It wasn’t a factor during mediation because it didn’t exist,” Hier said. “But it was a factor in the rejection of the report.”
While the budget for fiscal year 2018 has already cemented, Hier is confident that any negotiations between the boards and the SSSA, will avoid disrupting the current budgeting.
“It’s strange that we’ve budgeted for this year before we made an agreement. We made assumptions on cost,” Hier said. “We’ll try to end up with an agreement that doesn’t substantially upset that.”
The parties have scheduled a second mediation session with the Federal mediators based in Albany, New York on Aug. 22. Both boards remain committed to good faith negotiations toward an eventual agreement.
“I’m always optimistic that the next mediation session will be successful,” Hier said. “The board remains committed.”

18 comments
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Details? I think all town employees should have their incomes posted, such as the staff of VT does. Then we as tax payers and parents could get a better idea. The whole package deal, meaning salary, health insurance retirement, PTO etc.

I agree, they only leak out what they want the public to know, to better their side in the negotiations, or to get the public to side with them, open view is good for the tax payer, an employer knows what they pay an employee, why should the tax payer not know....

They should just cut all school district pay and benefits by 5 percent for the next 12 months with the caveat that unless the schools start to perform and increase educational scoring that the following year it would be cut by another 5 percent. That would save a lot of money and actually give school employees a reason to actually do the jobs they are hired for.

before you on ragging on all school employee's,maybe you should do a little research and you'll find that the admin and teacher get the biggest pay raise's and benefit packages,they receive so much training every year,that must cost a small fortune to the taxpayers,the support staff are always fighting for what they get and it is always far less them what the admin and teachers get,one would think that everybody would be treated the same,but that's not the case

Unfortunately it is almost impossible to figure out the exact compensation a teacher gets. While the starting salaries appear low you have to add Gold Health Care Plans. Insane Retirement Packages. Paid Sick Leave. Paid Vacations. Paid time off for family leave. If you added it all together it is a pretty good dig.

Chuck, you are very correct in it being a pretty good dig. None of us with an equivalent education and professional experience reap nearly the same remuneration. Actual hourly pay for time on the job exceeds $80/hr with benefits we can only dream about. Ask yourself, what is it buying us?

5:41, I would like to see the sources for your claim of $80+/ hr. "Time on the job," too. A Maryland law mandated that public school teachers spend a minimum of 38 hours per week "on the job." A subsequent survey found they averaged 52 hours a week.

Yeah, the money's the important thing! Let's focus on driving salaries so low that even more of the very best move on to other school districts. Let's focus on getting teachers to teach to the tests by which their pay will be determined. That way, we can avoid having to develop in each student the skills and insights that would give them the best chance at a good life.

And of course we'll teach those uppity snits that they're going to have to get along with all those things the rest of us don't have-- lifelong medical coverage, a livable wage, paid sick leave and vacation, forty-hour-a-week jobs, time to be with our family, and a home of our own. Let's perpetuate the race to the bottom, aka "Make America Great Again."

Chuck there are some good teachers, they like the rest of us should be paid based on their competency as well as the job they do. But no, it's one gets a level of pay they all get that level of pay. But when you get the union involved then the drive to do a better job goes away, they know what they are going to be paid without any sort of drive or desire to do better. (not all)

Most of these comments where the problems lie. Do they come from the same people that blame the cops for the crime, the doctors for health care and teachers for poor students? All those teachers cops and docs living in their mansions need to climb down from their high horse and work on the cheap.

Someone once said "you get what you pay for" Keep raising expectations on those professions while advocating to cut pay and benefits and you will reap what you sow.

Or we start with a little personal responsibility; don't do drugs, steal, drive drunk etc, eat right and exercise, take away the xbox and read a book, do your home work...

Most teachers spend their day on social media, instead of focusing on the needs of their students. They are not held accountable for their actions by our Superintendent. He is only concerned about the political situations, good or bad that may arise. Many former teachers, staff and students tell how many teachers are just going through the motions.

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